Mask of a Kitsune
by Celestial Eclissi-Chan
Summary: Naruto has been growing up in a harsh world, full of people whom spit on him and push him down at every turn. Within this harsh world he had to hid his aptitude for learning from those very same people that would think him a threat, until someone takes notice. will fix the summary when I can think of a better one. Eventual malexmale slash！


**Hey guys! Well this is the start of a new Naruto fic, hope you all enjoy! ^_^**

**LBM: *narrows eyes* Shouldn't you be working on your _other_ stories?**

**Oh shut up! This one was screaming my name to finish it and publish it. -_-"**

**LBM: *rolls eyes* Yea right.**

**:P Any way! I hope you enjoy! XD**

**Chapter 1: Hidden Potential**

His small legs carried him as fast as they could, feet pounding against the unforgiving ground to a rapid beat. The wind whistled in his ear, urging him on as he ran. The heavy pounding of many pairs of feet behind him and the cacophony of their voices a haunting reminder as to why he could not slow down. His lungs begged for oxygen as he ran, their burning a sign of his impending tiredness.

Soon the muscles in his calves began to ache from the extended sprinting, his ankles taking the familiar sensation of being jarred one too many times. Tripping on a random upturned rock in the middle of the village street, Naruto fell scrapping one of his knees in the process. He looked over his small shoulder, his eyes wide in panic. The crowd of villagers and a few shinobi was slowly gaining on him, he had to move _now_.

Pushing up from the ground he ran before he was fully upright, using his small stature to his advantage to try and further the gap between him and the mob. It was no use, whatever speed he could have gained was thwarted by the other villagers not chasing him as he tried to get away. "Get back here you Demon!" One of the many men that were pursuing him yelled, his voice nearly lost in other alike exclamations.

"Stop running Monster!" yet another shout that never reached its intended's ears. Naruto now focused all his energy on running, knowing that if he slowed down even a bit that he would surely be faced with another beating. Something glinted in his peripheral vision, and Naruto narrowly avoided a kunai as it whizzed past his head, snatching a few blond hairs in its deadly path.

Naruto pushed himself harder as he ran, his breathing now coming out in hard pants that heaved his entire torso. His movements were nearly blurred to any untrained eye as he continued his panicked flight. Something cut into his back as he ran and he felt the warm crimson flow of blood he knew was trailing down his back and staining his bright neon orange shirt before he felt the biting pain.

For just a moment Naruto glanced back only to see the satisfied and sinister look of one of the village chunin holding a bloody kunai, the ruby liquid running down the blade to stain his hand. His adrenalin enhanced hearing picked up a few just barely whispered words. "You can run but you can't hide, Demon! You will pay for what you did to our village five years ago!" the evil gleam in the chunin's eye made the words all the more sinister.

Naruto was not able to hear anymore as he put his attention back on running and, hopefully, saving his skin. He knew that he would heal almost immediately after the villagers were done with him - he always did, he could already feel the wound on his back closing up- but that didn't mean the pain was dulled even the smallest bit.

Naruto could still remember the first beatings and how harshly they were delivered, it was most likely pointless to run but his survival instincts were strong. Another kunai whistled through the air towards him and he just managed to turn a corner before it hit him, aimed for the base of the spine. Whoever threw it had been hoping to paralyze him, however brief the incident would be, to give them the upper hand.

Unfortunately the villagers were slowly moving towards him as he ran, whatever gift in speed he had was ruined by his weariness. He was forced to slow down just a hair but even so the villagers still advanced, uncaring about the welfare of this 'demonic' little boy. Naruto felt his knees buckle and his legs collapse under him as he tried to speed up. The villagers were still several yards away but one of the chunin in the group jumped ahead and tried to grab Naruto by his arm.

Narrowly avoiding capture Naruto forced his legs to cooperate and took off again, running once again at top speed. Tears stung at his eyes blurring his sight as he tried to speed up. Naruto accidentally crashed into one of the vender's stalls, sending the contents crashing to earth and bruising the tender flesh of his hip. "Get back here you damn Demon!" the angry merchant yelled, furious that his merchandise had been ruined by the kyubi brat.

Spotting an alley Naruto darted into it, hoping to catch his breath as he slid down the wall to thump on the ground. Harsh pants were what passed as his breath at the moment, even he was not used to such rigorous sprinting. Clutching his chest with each heaving gulp of air, he tried to think of a way to get out of this situation. He knew that on his own he would never be able to out run the entire mob nor would he be able to escape unscathed if he were caught. Even now he could hear them as they ran towards his temporary hiding place, still several yards away but swiftly progressing to him.

Naruto knew he had only one option left, but he was so deathly afraid to try it. While searching around in the dumpsters near his tiny apartment he'd found an old first year academy text book that though looking a little worse for wear was in excellent condition. Naruto had started reading it and had just finished the first few chapters a few nights ago. Taught in those chapters were some of the few ninja basics, most importantly at the moment it taught how ninja jumped as high as they did. He understood the process, but theory and experiment were two sides of opposite spectrums.

Hearing the sound of the villager's approaching footsteps his survival instincts kicked in again, rapidly deciding which course to choose. Naruto frantically ran to the end of the ally which was walled in thick red bricks, and concentrated on what he'd read in the book.

_Direct a small amount of chakra to your feet and bend your knees. Gather the chakra there for a moment then push of the ground and relax your ankles._

Feeling his chakra coils he directed a small amount to his feet, running over the directions a few more times in his mind to make sure he knew what to do. He bent his knees slightly, still gathering his chakra in his feet, and pushed against the ground. Taking the leap of faith that had the possibility to save him had to be one of the most frightening things he'd ever done, his eyes were glued shut as he kept expecting to smack into the unforgiving solid brick wall and fall straight into the hands of the villagers.

Only when he heard the grumbled complaints of the villagers did he open his eyes. There he was standing on the roof, not a single scratch to be counted for besides the half healed gash on his back. His bright azure eyes widened, not in panic or fear but in awe. He'd made the jump on his first try and he'd managed to evade the villagers!

Overjoyed Naruto let a large goofy smile spread across his face, careful not to make any noise least any remaining stragglers from the mob hear him and find where he was hiding. He looked around, trying to pinpoint his location in Konoha. In his blind haste he hadn't kept track of where he'd been going and was now somewhat disoriented.

Taking a deep breath and scanning his surroundings, he saw the sign for Ichiraku's and the top half of the Hokage building nearby. Relieved, he let out a sigh and debated with himself whether or not to try his luck again and jump across the roof tops or just walk home. If he did walk home then another mob might start up and that could be just as lethal as falling off a two-story building. Naruto nodded to himself and once again thought back to what the book had said.

_Keep the chakra flow to your calves and feet steady as you jump. Keep your limbs relaxed to move faster._

Taking a deep, steadying breath Naruto ran to the edge of the roof top and leapt to the next one, relieved that once again it had worked. Repeating the process a few more times, he got the hang of it and started paying attention to where he was going. He found himself quite a bit closer to the Hokage tower when he finally did start noticing where he was. He turned to face the direction he estimated his little one bedroom apartment to be and took off, jumping and leaping all the way.

Unbeknownst to Naruto a pair of well trained eyes were glued to his back as he left, the interest swirling in their depths apparent to any who cared to look. The porcelain mask on his face gleamed in the faint light reaching his corner, revealing him as an ANBU Black Opps agent with a mask carved like a _Kuma_.

-+-+-+-Moak-+-+-+-

'_Hmmm, interesting. Very interesting.'_ Thought the _Kuma_ masked ANBU watching the little blonde boy leap from rooftop to rooftop. He watched the emotions play out on his face, nervousness, fear, excitement, elation; they all were displayed so plainly out in the open for anyone to read. It was quite unfortunate how the village treated their own hero's son.

'_Better report this to Taichou-sama, I think he'll be most intrigued about this new development."_ The smug smile on the ANBU operative's face was hidden from the world by the carved porcelain mask. Raising his glove covered hand he made the sign for shunshin and teleported directly outside the hidden ANBU base. Walking through the dense foliage he came to the hidden entrance and quickly walked inside. Navigating his way through the winding corridors of the secret facility till he came to a plain door with the kanji for 'Head Captain' written in black paint.

A single ANBU operative sat a desk covered with various different scrolls and papers, most mission reports and requests others differing types of paper work that an ANBU head captain had to fill out. Behind him sat a large honey combed bookcase meant for holding all manner of scrolls that covered the entire wall behind him. Reaching a black glove covered hand beneath his intricately painted tiger mask he pinched the bridge of his nose to try and quell his growing irritation.

The prolonged exposure to the glaring white paper sharply contrasted with typed black letters was tiring his well trained eyes. A rare soft sigh escaped from his masked covered lips, just barely making it past the thick porcelain covering. Slipping his hand from behind the mask he grabbed his pen and got back to work.

A small cloud of white smoke appeared in his office, as it cleared a black clothed figure appeared their face covered with a similar porcelain ANBU mask. The ANBU sitting at the desk ignored the kneeling figure until he was done with that piece of paperwork. He set down his pen for the second time in almost five minutes and looked to the masked operative in front of him. "I see you are back from your mission Kuma-san. Report." The Kuma masked ANBU before him nodded and began briefing the Head Captain on the details of the mission.

"The A-rank solo mission went according to plan Tora-sama. The target was poorly guarded during a change of shift in his armed guards providing the perfect opportunity to slip in and quietly dispatch the target." Kuma finished in a monotonous voice. Tora nodded to him, threading his fingers in his lap.

"Good work Kuma-san. I expect a fully detailed report on my desk within the next three days." He said firmly. Kuma nodded in understanding, making plans to write the report soon. Tora once again picked up his pen and started to fill out the sheet in front of him, still working on the ever growing mountain of endless paperwork.

Time passed, the monotonous ticking of the clock the only real indication as night had already fallen. "Is there a reason you are still in my office, Kuma-san?" Tora asked nonchalantly keeping his eyes on his paper work. Kuma nodded even though his superior couldn't really see it as he inhaled to convey his message. "Yes sir, earlier this evening I came across a rather peculiar sight. It seems young Uzumaki-san has picked up a few shinobi skills that are only taught to early academy students."

At this revelation Tora actually looked at the kneeling ANBU before him, raising an eyebrow behind his tiger mask as his curiosity was piqued. "Oh? And where did he acquire these skills I wonder?" He asked Kuma, intrigue clear in his tone of voice to those who knew him well. Kuma took this as the signal to stand and as he did so he shrugged his shoulders. "I am not sure Tora-sama, I only saw him use them to escape a horde of angry villagers."

Tora scowled beneath his mask at that, oh he knew _all_ about the village's treatment of their resident jinchuriki. Unlike the civilians and most of the typical shinobi within the village, the ANBU Corps had been there to see the events of the Yondaime Hokage's death and his subsequent actions that lead to sealing the Kyubi into his own son. Tora was thoroughly disgusted with their actions and words against Naruto who was a hero in his own right.

"Hmmm," Tora hummed in displeasure at this. "What level were his skills at?" he asked, still interested but his mood darkened by his earlier thoughts. Again Kuma shrugged as he answered, "I'm not sure Tora-sama. It seemed that this afternoon was the first time he'd done it." He said somewhat awed at the boy's proficiency.

A thoughtful expression donned on Tora's face under his mask, "Hmmm" he hummed in thought. "This might be worth looking into, if the boy proves to be what I think he may be." He said, mostly to himself than to the ANBU in his presence. He nodded to himself and stood, walking out of his office with Kuma trailing him out.

As the head captain of the ANBU Black Opps Corps walked away from him to go ponder on this new development, Kuma wouldn't be able to wipe the smug smirk off his face even if he tried.

**-+-+-+-Moak-+-+-+-**

**So, I hope you guys enjoyed! Please feel free to leave a review telling me what you think! Love you guys and I hope to hear from you all!**

**Translations:**

**kuma - bear**

**tora - tiger**

**shunshin - body flicker **


End file.
